Manifest
Chapter 3
Scene 1
Michaela ran out of her apartment and just kept on running. She didn't know where to go or where she would end up but what she did know is she couldn't talk to Jared like this. Michaela thought long and hard before telling both Lourdes and Jared that she had planned on saying no, not because she wanted to hurt Jared but because she knew she couldn't break up their marriage. Michaela wasn't willing to be the second woman and she wasn't able to hurt Lourdes like that by cheating on her with Jared. She knew that telling him she planned on saying no would hurt him and it killed her knowing that no matter what she did someone she loved would get hurt but for her, a marriage was sacred and not something she was willing to ruin.
Michaela continued running until she ended up at Ben's front door. Michaela knocked and Ben answered the door.
BEN: Mick, what's going on? What's wrong?
MICHAELA: Jared knows
BEN: Jared knows what?
MICHAELA: That I was going to say yes.
BEN: And that is a bad thing?
MICHAELA: Of course it is, he's married Ben
BEN: So what? You love him and he loves you.
MICHAELA: What do you mean so what? He's married to my best friend Ben, I can't do this to her. I already told them both that I was planning on saying no, in order not to hurt them but now they know the truth.
BEN: And now that he knows what do you want to happen?
MICHAELA: I don't know, if I did I wouldn't have ran out of my apartment when he showed me that my text from the plane, the one in where I answered yes to his proposal went through.
BEN: And did you ask him what he wants?
MICHAELA: No, he's married Ben I would never put him in that kind of position.
BEN: I know you don't want to hear this but I think you should talk to him and try to figure it out together.
MICHAELA: I don't know, for me there's nothing to figure out.
BEN: But maybe for him there is something to talk about. I see the way he still looks at you, It's as if he loves you even more now than he did before. I'm not saying he's going to want to leave Lourdes for you and I know it's not that simple for him to do, but you'll never know what he want's or how he feels if you don't talk to him. Do you know where he is now?
MICHAELA: I don't know. He was in my apartment when I left.
BEN: Go home and see if he's still there, talk to him figure this out. You at least owe it to yourself and Jared.
Scene 2
Jared thought for a minute about following Michaela outside but he knew better than that. He knew that she would get really upset if he followed her and decided to give her the space she clearly wanted and wait for her to come back to her apartment. After 4 hours of waiting Jared decided to go back and home and talk to her tomorrow at the precinct.
Looking at the time Jared didn't knock on the front door and opened it quietly. As soon as he opened the door the lights went on and Lourdes was standing there in front of him. Jared felt really bad as he noticed that she had been crying.
LOURDES: How did it go? What did she say?
JARED: Nothing, she looked at the text and ran out of the door. I tried waiting for her to come back home but she never showed up.
LOURDES: So why are you home now? You should have waited there until she came back home even if you had to wait all night for her. It's what you would have done had I not been in the picture.
JARED: But you are, Lou, you are in the picture. You are my wife and that is not something I take lightly. You know I love her but I love you too and I just wouldn't feel right waiting for another woman to come home so I could talk to her while my wife is waiting for me to come home even if that woman is my…
LOURDES: My what?
JARED: Nothing, it doesn't matter
LOURDES: Of course it matters, she's your soulmate Jared. I think you should have waited. I love you but we only got married because Michaela was gone. Do you really believe you would have married me if Michaela hadn't disappeared all those years ago even if she had turned you down, which we now know she was planning on saying yes.
JARED: No, I would have done anything I had to, to get her back and make her say yes. I love her to much to let her go.
LOURDES: Exactly, so what is stopping you from doing that now?
JARED: You
Jared knew it wasn't fair to say that to Lourdes but they both knew it was the truth. He felt bad when he saw her flinch as he said.
LOURDES: I know you feel bad, and yes it does hurt to hear you say that but I would have been angry at you if you would have lied about something like that. Look It's been a really long and tiring night for both of us, I think we should both go to sleep and deal with this in the morning.
JARED: Thank you for understanding.
LOURDES: You want me to sleep on the couch tonight?
JARED: Of course not, you will sleep in the bed tonight which is where you belong and I will take the couch.
Jared watched as Lourdes went upstairs and then he fell down on couch and began crying. It was unusual for him to get this emotional but he was so confused. He knew he loved both women but he only wanted to be with Michaela. Jared felt guilty, he was not the type of guy to be married to someone when he was in love with another woman but somehow he had found himself in this crazy situation and now he had to fix it. Jared fell asleep determined to tell Michaela how he feels about her and what he wanted for their future the following morning at the precinct.
Jared woke up excited to face the new day in hopes of finally getting to be with the woman of his dreams. He quickly got dressed said good bye to Lourdes and ran out the door. When he got to the precinct he looked around and did not see Michaela anywhere. Jared tried calling her several times but each time the call went straight to voicemail. Worried Jared decided he was going to ask the captain if he had heard from Michaela.
JARED: Hi captain, sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you heard from Michaela at all today?
ROJAS: I thought she would have told you, she called me last night asking to switch her shift